the plot: Social worker Ann Gentry (Comer) has taken on a new assignment: the Wadsworth family, and, in particular, the family’s one male child, known only as Baby (Mooney).  Baby isn’t a normal infant, though—he’s a grown man, kept in a state of perpetual babyhood by his domineering mother (Roman) and his equally crazy sisters, Alba (Zenor) and Germaine (Mariana Hill). Ann quickly develops a rapport with Baby, a fact that Mrs. Wadsworth and the rest of the clan are none too happy about. As Ann attempts to coax Baby into adulthood by getting him to stand and talk, the Wadsworths make their own moves against Ann by filing complaints against her with the state government. Ann suspects the Wadsworths of killing Baby’s previous social worker, but Ann has her own secrets to hide, specifically about her husband, Roger. The Wadsworths stage a botched attempt to kidnap and kill Ann, but she turns the tables on them and makes off with Baby. The twisted family mounts a rescue effort as Ann’s true reasons for taking Baby into her home become clear.

why it’s good: “The Baby” wastes no time in getting to the weird stuff, and within the film’s first few moments, viewers are treated to the sight of a fully grown man in a diaper taking a nap in a giant crib. It only gets stranger from there, and for all the camp, bad clothes and worse hair that populate “The Baby,” it’s a fairly unsettling, bizarre film. Because the freaky-looking man-baby is onscreen so early, you may wonder how “The Baby” builds and maintains any sort of suspense. Credit for that goes to writer Abe Polsky’s script, which focuses more on the obsessive psychotics surrounding Baby rather than on the child (or is it man?). At the center of this battle of matriarchal wills are Comer and Roman, both of whom turn in pretty decent performances. Roman is all trashy bluster, with big hair, a mumu and a penchant for chain smoking. But the real draw is Comer, whose outer façade of professional concern and caring transforms into something far more disturbing—a subtle change that segues nicely with the film’s twist ending. Of course, Polsky’s script is full of all the lurid stuff prurient viewers crave, most of which involves Baby’s two sisters. Zenor is a peppy blonde sadomasochist who parades around in hot pants and zaps Baby with a cattle prod whenever he misbehaves. Meanwhile, Hill, sporting a hairdo that would put Lillian Munster to shame, makes frequent nighttime visits to Baby’s crib for activities that are profoundly discouraged in most reputable child-rearing books. Just when you think the premise is exhausted and things can’t get stranger, they do, and the movie’s climax delivers the goods for even the fussiest B-movie lovers.

why you should own it: “The Baby” is a great slice of weird ’70s camp. Sadly, Image Entertainment’s DVD is long out of print, though you can still rent it from Netflix. The film’s utter strangeness makes it a must-see for weird cinema aficionados.